@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

elb

@elb@social.sdf.org

I'm here for old computers, radios, and cool nerdery.

I identify with #Unix #Linux #HamRadio #retrocomputing and #making.

Professionally I am a computer scientist, now primarily an educator of college students. I am a #SystemsProgrammer with deep experience in #networking, #EmbeddedSystems, and #OperatingSystems. I have also worked in #security from time to time.

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elb, to random
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

Why do people roast coffee dark, and why would anyone buy it? It smells like hatred and sadness and tastes like broken dreams.

ricci, to random
@ricci@discuss.systems avatar

Our faculty slack has a 'kudos' channel to announce good news, like awards, publicity, new grants, etc.

We recently added a 'soduk' (kudos backwards) channel where people can announce and commiserate over rejected papers, bad proposal reviews, etc.

I really like this setup, it both encourages people to announce and take pride in the things that go well, and provides a space where's it's encouraged to discuss the fact that things often don't go well, that all of us deal with rejection, and that this is okay.

#AcademicChatter

elb,
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

@ricci For several semesters, one of the courses I run had a Matrix channel called "gripes" for similar purposes to your soduk, and on at least one occasion a channel called "sepirg" for the opposite (although neither was really about papers, just ... academic life stuff).

We currently have neither, but these things come and go with the students involved.

jonn_blanchard, to random
@jonn_blanchard@retrochat.online avatar

Sold my A590 Amiga Hard drive on eBay and i'm being reminded why I steer clear of eBay. The seller hasn't paid yet and upon looking at their profile it's looking fairly dodgy

elb,
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

@jonn_blanchard If it falls through, you know where to find me. (Only half kidding, shipping across the Atlantic is unfortunate.)

elb,
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

@jonn_blanchard on the other hand, A590s, specifically, are much less common over here.

elb, to random
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

Can't wait for the big event!

elb,
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

@mark no, it's right here at home. We did a short antique rail excursion, and I was making fun of Marina for it because the sky here here is no different from our drive, but the train is going to be the highlight so it worked out.

elb,
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

Totality! Don't let the phone auto exposure fool you, it was very dark.

rdviii, to random
@rdviii@famichiki.jp avatar

Okay, folks, I'm gonna have to do a long thread on . Keep your eyes peeled...

elb,
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

@rdviii You deserve a nap, after that one. ;⁠-⁠)

I found it interesting!

amoroso, to retrocomputing
@amoroso@fosstodon.org avatar

In a retrocomputing newsletter I subscribe to I read this announcement of a new community resource:

"I’ve created a new FaceBook group ..."

My heart sank at the thought of freely shared knowledge buried in increasingly locked silos. I prefer resources like Retrocomputing Forum which I recently joined:

https://retrocomputingforum.com

It's on the open web and runs an open source platform. But aside from the tech stack it's a great community with great discussions.

#retrocomputing #community

elb,
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

@amoroso and we're thrilled to have you on board! RCF is one of my favorite places.

elb,
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

@njsg @amoroso If you have trouble accessing it and it's fixable, please let us know! It is true that discourse is not perfect, and it's sufficiently Webby to have a lot of complication, but if any of its shortcomings can be fixed or worked around, it's on the table.

ricci, to random
@ricci@discuss.systems avatar

Who would have expected that buying rocks could be so hard?

elb,
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

@ricci Should have bought pillows.

elb,
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

@wren @ricci Bring out the larger scales!

elb,
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

@ricci @wren I cannot answer that question, but I can assert with moderate confidence that it will weigh one ton.

scruss, to random
@scruss@xoxo.zone avatar

I asked the other week if people thought they could use more celebration days, and people mostly said yes.

This is what prompted it: celebrating thousand days birth anniversaries: a slightly nerdy alternative to Big Birthday.

I've sat on this idea for over 20 years without doing anything with it. I'd be really happy if someone else expanded on the idea

Here's the concept doc: Thousand Days: Concept — https://gist.github.com/scruss/3e52ce929b651eedc815baf78df10874

elb,
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

@scruss I think your mod equation needs a +1.

Happy 20k!

elb,
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

@scruss My mistake, I'm a victim of missing scrollbars plus Github mobile rendering having surprisingly wide margins but the background extending past them. I see now that I can scroll that equation!

elb, to random
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

I was just feeling nostalgic for OpenCM, an early cryptographic-naming configuration management (version control) system from Jon Shapiro's EROS group at Johns Hopkins. I think Jack Lloyd (later participant on Monotone and author of the Botan cryptographic library) was one of the primary developers, if memory serves. It was the first VCS that I used that had competent branching and merging and really felt comfortable for parallel development. Sadly it's dead and gone, now.

elb,
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

I have 0.1.2alpha8 here (which looks to be the last release?), but it doesn't build on my system due to changes in OpenSSL. Maybe I'll try to spin a period-correct VM later and see if I can get it running.

elb,
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

@grimmy I regret that common perception every day.

elb,
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

@phf He was working on quite a number of things I found interesting, from a distance. And yes, it all does seem to have more or less evaporated, which is unfortunate for the state of computing.

scruss, to random
@scruss@xoxo.zone avatar

With the choice of any quality pointing device I could buy, why am I using a grotty mouse from a defunct Australian electronics chain* that I got as surplus five years ago?

--
: Dick Smith*
**: fnarr, fnarr.

elb,
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

@scruss is this a rhetorical question?

elb, to random
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

Marina: 2
Fresh Roast coffee roaster chaff lids: 0

elb,
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

@snorerot13 I ordered two.

elb, to random
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

I just went out to get my kid off the bus. It's cold outside, so I put on a gray pea coat over my T-shirt and blue plaid flannel pajama pants. It's snowing, so I added a black wool Stetson. Then the bus was late (probably due to the 2" of snow on the ground), so I pulled on some tan leather lined work gloves and shoveled the walk.

Fortunately it was my younger who was getting off the bus, and she is rather a sartorial free spirit. My older would have been mortified. #DadLife

elb, to baking
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

I don't use an . I haven't used an ad blocker in a decade or more. I see plenty of ads on the web. What I do is block third-party and known cross-site . The number of sites (even apparently legitimate sites) that implore me to disable my ad blocker is disappointing.

elb, to retrocomputing
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

If you know, you know.

elb,
@elb@social.sdf.org avatar

@procrastin8 Eject mechanism gear, yeah. Since replaced w/ a resin print.

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